In the weeks that it’s been on air, Liu Shishi and Liu Yuning’s A Journey to Love 一念关山 continues to go from strength to strength as it continues to do well in the charts. The show is already well past the 10.1k iQIYI heat index, but even that didn’t stop the bashers from hating on male lead Liu Yuning who’s accused of stealing the spotlight. Others flat out called him ugly.
The influencer turned singer and now turned actor is certainly no stranger to naysayers. Before the show even aired, Netizens already protested against him being cast for the role of Ning Yuanzhou. While he has proved his bashers wrong with his character’s success as the badass leader of Liu Dao Tang, it hasn’t stopped people from criticising his looks for not being handsome enough or his acting not being good enough. Others went so far as to even use AI face-swapping tech to replace him with another actor’s face. The issues didn’t end there. Some claim Liu Shishi’s being shortchanged and her screen time reduced in favor of pushing Liu Yuning. Others claim the story is giving pivotal moments to his character at the expense of hers.
His First Leading Man Role in a Costume Drama
In a recent interview, the 33-year-old said it was hard to accept all the negativity especially since he loved playing Ning Yuanzhou. “When I really loved something, then they tell me I didn’t deserve to love this thing. At the time, I felt quite bad.” He likened what he felt to someone building a snowman, putting their heart and soul into creating something they truly loved only to wake up the next morning to find that someone kicked it down. “The intense hurt you feel when something you carefully made (which someone heartlessly destroyed), that sort of feeling.”
Last week, Liu Yuning candidly told his fans that he will bear with all the good and the bad. “I will not react this time, but only for this drama because I absolutely love A Journey to Love so much.” As this is his first time playing the leading man in a costume drama, the show is doubly memorable for him. “Although I will film other projects in the future, the experience and what this means to me is not something that I can ever recapture in my lifetime. So as long as the drama is good and it performs well, it’s enough for me that I’m worthy of everyone who trusted me and everyone I’ve worked with.”
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avarachika
Poor guy can’t catch a break and just be happy for this drama’s success since all the antis are so busy trying to bring him down. He’s doing so well though! AJTL is also doing so well; just let the cast and team bask in the happiness of their hard work!
Ash
If I were Ning, I would take all these noises as a compliment. They actually think he is now a real threat to the popularity and celebrity status of LSS. I actually think he has acted very well in this drama. I don’t see why LSS should have such a higher high paycheck than Ning. Heck, that girl playing the young prince is much more memorable.
Ning and his comrade brothers are all good looking and have expressed their respective distinctive characters very well indeed.
XZF
@ Ash
All the actors you mentioned in this drama have acted well in their roles including LSS – you don’t need to put LSS down.
XZF
@ Ash
I meant to say LSS deserves her higher paycheck.
avarachika
Yeah, I don’t see the need why you have to put LSS down when she’s doing the most well! I’m pretty sure He Landou wouldn’t be able to act as Ruyi if they were to swap roles. And, this is not just a LYN show, but also with LSS and the whole team, cast and production team. This is why we get so many antis and negativity. Praising one while leaving the other one out when they were clearly doing a great job. If you’re even watching, the CAST and SCRIPT are the main strengths of the show. Plus, LSS deserves her high paycheck and no LYN is not a threat to her popularity because LSS has already reached the height of her career. This drama is just a boost to cement her popularity and celebrity status as a senior actress. And unfortunately, you shouldn’t say for LYN to take these comments as compliment because I’m pretty sure they are horrifying threats to the point where LYN is sad, anger, and hurt by it. They are not compliments at all, but is cyberbulling!
Ash
Why I singled out LSS? Because it was reported that she has the highest paycheck of all, with a huge margin even from the No.2. When one is paid that much more, then much more is expected, not just a standard performance. If she was at the similar range of paycheck, then of course, the standard compliment of “all has good performance” applies equally.
Oh, I watched the entire drama, including the crappy ending and all the screen time spent on flashbacks (so much water). Completely agree with you – the script (though some portions are still crap) and the ensemble cast. But even among an ensembled cast, you will have standout performances and I’m sure you don’t deny me my right to have an opinion on the performance of each one of them.
As for Ning to “take it as a compliment” – it’s just an expression to say that you should try to look at negative things thrown at you in a positive way. Making lemonade out of lemons – ever heard of that? It’s a method of handling the brick-bats life throws at you. I have no doubt that he feels hurt , especially at personal comments about his looks or his body parts or his acting skills – mostly by LSS’ fans. That is a sure sign of LSS’ fans feeling that their idol’s pedestal position is threatened, isn’t it?
But I have no doubt that, given his personal background, LYN won’t let all those bother him much. He is a tough guy, mentally and emotionally. And he would have done exactly as I said – take it as a compliment and move on. And a sign he has indeed arrived.